Romney Says He Expects to Be Republican Nominee

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Mitt Romney said he expects to
become the Republican presidential nominee as rival Rick
Santorum called him a weak candidate to run against Democratic
President Barack Obama in the November election.

Each appeared on network television talk shows today as
Republicans cast votes in Puerto Rico. Primaries are set for
later this week in Illinois and Louisiana, in a race that also
features former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia.

The Republican primaries, which run through June 26, will
yield a nominee in one or two months, Republican National
Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said today on CBS’s “Face the
Nation” program. The party has rules to deal with “any
possibility,” he said.

“We’re only at halftime,” Priebus said. “We’re not
making plans for a brokered convention.”

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, has won 495
delegates in the Republican contest. Santorum, a former senator
from Pennsylvania, has won 252 delegates, according to estimates
by the Associated Press.

Romney was asked on “Fox News Sunday” if he faces
difficulties in amassing the 1,144 delegates needed to win the
nomination.

Strong Nominee

“I can’t tell you exactly how the process is going to
work, but I bet I’m going to become the nominee,” Romney said.
“I sure hope I’m going to become the nominee, and if I am, I’m
going to be a strong nominee.”

Romney said he would “get America back on the track of
creating jobs, seeing rising incomes again, gasoline prices that
are more reasonable and an America that’s respected around the
world.”

Santorum said Romney’s policies are similar to Obama’s on
issues including health-care mandates and federal bailouts of
banks and automobile companies.

“I feel like I am doing a training run for the general
election,” Santorum said today on ABC’s “This Week” program.
“The same issues I’m out there campaigning on against Governor
Romney are the same issues I’m going to campaign against Barack
Obama on.”

Romney “hasn’t been able to close the deal and even come
close to closing the deal,” Santorum said. “We can’t nominate
such a weak candidate in the general election.”

David Axelrod, Obama’s political adviser, said on CBS’s
“Face the Nation” that Republicans are having “a hard time
picking a nominee” and Romney “hasn’t been able to make the
sale to his own party.”

Gingrich is in third place in the Republican race, with 131
delegates, according to the AP tally that includes endorsements
from party leaders who attend the convention and can vote for
anyone. Representative Ron Paul of Texas has 48 delegates.